Oracle forfeits season trophies for rule violation

As a result of a technical rules violation, Oracle Team USA has forfeited its overall championships in the two seasons of the America’s Cup World Series, warm-up events for the America’s Cup.

All three of the Oracle boats, including those skippered by Jimmy Spithill and Russell Coutts, were found to have violated rules regarding boat weights, the team said Thursday in announcing the self-imposed penalties.

Spithill’s boat won the regatta title in Newport, R.I., in the final event of the 2011-12 ACWS season. It dominated both events in San Francisco in the 2012-13 season. In April, Tom Slingsby subbed on the helm for Spithill and won the match-racing title in Naples, Italy, and just missed winning the fleet-racing title.

As a result of forfeiting those performances, Oracle has to give up both season championship trophies.

Oracle was discovered to have improperly placed lead weights in the bows of all three of its 45-foot catamarans in the ACWS, including one that was loaned to BAR J.P. Morgan and skip- pered by Ben Ainslie.

The rules governing weights are written in scrupulous detail because they can affect boat handling and performance. Oracle officials insisted they had no knowledge of the violations until they were discovered while the boats were being prepared for the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in September.

Coupled with a spying infraction against Oracle last year, however, the violations are a black eye for the American team owned by Larry Ellison.

Coutts, the team’s chief executive, said he anticipated some people casting Oracle as cheaters but said, “That’s not what we’re about. We’re not a team that operates like that. We acted responsibly.”

The disclosures represent still another setback for an America’s Cup that has been dogged by a scarcity of challengers, a wreck that cost the life of a sailor and a dismal competition that hasn’t had a single close race.

Oracle team general manager Grant Simmer said the improper weight on each boat caused an imperceptible change in its performance, “one hundredth of a degree.” He said, “It didn’t help us win the regatta, but the fact is it didn’t comply with the rules.”

Each of the boats had the correct overall weight, but a 5-pound lead ballast was improperly added to a strut near the bow of each boat, according to Coutts.

The modifications were made more than a year ago by team employees without the knowledge of management or the skippers, the team said in a statement.

“If we had known about it at the time, it would have been (rectified) straightaway,” Coutts said. He called it a “ridiculous mistake” because “it didn’t affect the performance.”

The violations were discovered July 26, he said. The team waited two weeks before disclosing the violations because it was checking with America’s Cup measurers, he said. “We had to make sure it actually happened,” he said.

He said he had “a fair idea” on how it happened and who might have been responsible. He said he couldn’t identify the culprits because of state employee-confidentiality rules. “To be fair to them, I don’t want to prejudge,” he said, but added that the team might have to take disciplinary action.

Violations in regattas that happened months ago might seem inconsequential to the casual observer, but Coutts said, “We and the international jury take this very seriously. It’s breaking a rule. The jury may be obligated to conduct an investigation.”

There was no immediate word on such an investigation or whether the jury might impose new sanctions on Oracle. “They could impose a penalty, but we don’t anticipate it,” Coutts said.

Oracle was docked three practice days earlier this year as a result of a spying violation in New Zealand late last year.

Briefly: Luna Rossa Challenge can take a 3-0 lead on Artemis Racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals if it wins Friday’s race. The Italian boat won the first two races by at least two minutes.

Barring a huge upset, Luna Rossa will complete a sweep of the best-of-seven series Saturday and advance to face Emirates Team New Zealand in the challenger finals beginning Aug. 17.

Louis Vuitton Cup

What: Challenger series semifinals

Score: Luna Rossa Challenge (Italy) 2, Artemis Racing (Sweden) 0

Format: Best of seven races

Next race: 1:15 p.m. Friday

TV: Channel: 11

Internet: YouTube.com/americascup will replay the race after the telecast.